Tangled & Thief
by LozieDeanon
Summary: Barnaby, a young man with long, flowing, magic hair, longs to see the floating lights of the Halloween Festival. Kotetsu, a regretful thief betrayed by his companions, tries to complete the one heist that will end his troubles forever. The two find a mutually beneficial partnership... and much, much more. Fill from the T&B Anon Meme, "Tangled" recast. K/B.
1. Once upon a time, during a heist

A fill from the Tiger and Bunny Anon Meme. Prompt: _A recast of "Tangled." Barnaby is Rapunzel. His parents are alive. Kotetsu is Flynn Rider, and Maverick is Mother Gothel._

As an incomplete fill from the anon meme, I will stop posting new chapters there, and once I've caught up to the currently posted chapters, all new updates will appear here. Updates will be weekly, on Thursdays.

* * *

"Centuries later, a prosperous kingdom sprouted up nearby: the great Kingdom of Sternbild, ruled by King Barnaby and Queen Emily, who was about to have a baby. Oh, the queen was, not the king. Well, the king helped, it's his baby too, but the one who was actually, y'know, fat, that was—it doesn't matter who had the baby! That's not important!

"What _is _important is… Queen Emily got very sick. All of Sternbild worried they might lose their queen and the royal baby-to-be, but King Barnaby worried the most of all. So, he and his knights set out on a quest throughout the land to find the mythic sunlight-flower. And what do you know, one of his knights actually found it! They dug it up and brought it back to the queen, and made it into a soup. She drank it, and the flower's magic cured her instantly.

"And that was really awesome, but the most amazing thing was that their new baby boy, born on the day of the Halloween festival, had a spectacular head of golden curls. He was like, two hours old, and he had all that hair. They named the baby after his father, and all of Sternbild celebrated the birth of Prince Barnaby. His parents loved him more than anything in the world, and the three of them were the happiest family in the whole land.

"And it would have been great, if things had just stayed that happy. But the wizard Maverick soon realized that his flower had been stolen, and used to heal Queen Emily and deliver the prince safely. Four years after the prince's birth, Maverick found his opportunity to break into the castle and take revenge. But, when he saw the young prince's golden hair, he was reminded of the flower, and he soon realized that the flower's healing power had transferred into Barnaby's hair.

"So, Maverick did to Barnaby what he did to the flower. He stole him away from his parents and hid him from the rest of the world. The King and Queen ordered a great search throughout the realm, but no one could find any trace of the wicked wizard or the little prince.

"Though their son was lost to them, the King and Queen did not abandon hope. They created a new tradition: each year, on the Halloween festival, every citizen in Sternbild would light a special floating lantern, and set it free in the sky. Those thousands of lights together can be seen for miles, and they held onto hope that Barnaby would see this signal and find his way home.

"Barnaby _could_ see those lights. But he didn't know what they meant. When Maverick stole the prince away, he cast a spell on him, so he'd forget the four short years he spent with his loving parents. Barnaby didn't even realize he was kidnapped, and went willingly with the wicked wizard to a tall tower, deep in the forest, where no one would ever, _ever_ find him.

"That is, until the ultra-cool, super-awesome, sometimes-crooked but always-heroic Kotetsu T. Kaburagi came and rescued him"

* * *

Kotetsu crouched in the shadow of an alleyway near the palace, coiling and re-coiling his rappelling gear and waiting for his associates to finish the final preparations. Foreboding crawled up and down the back of his neck like spiders. Of all the people Kotetsu had ever teamed up with for a heist, "the Ouroboros Bandits" Jake and Kriem were the worst of the lot. They scared the ever-loving hell out of him, tattooed head to toe with that snake and sword symbol, and he'd never before met people who took such _joy_ in committing crimes. He knew dozens of unrepentant criminals, but very few who felt glad to subvert the law and harm innocents. That's before Kotetsu even touched on their magical abilities: Kriem could do something with her hair that enchanted inanimate objects, and Jake's barrier magic could hardly be considered "defensive" with how much damage they caused.

But, for this particular heist, the Bandits needed a specialist. Someone good at breaking and entering. Kotetsu had always been good at breaking, and since the… misunderstanding… he became good at entering and stealing, too.

Jake and Kriem had sought Kotetsu out, promising a heist so grand that all three of them could retire in style. The target of the day was a prized piece of Sternbild's crown jewels: the crown of the prince, the rightful crown of the lost prince. The King and Queen would pay its considerable worth a thousand times over to have that precious memento returned.

Kotetsu sighed and re-spooled his climbing rope again. He already felt guiltier about this heist than any of the crimes he'd committed throughout his unfortunate career. The King and Queen just wanted something to remember their child by. How could he deny them that scant comfort, especially since it had been twenty years since the prince had last been seen? Twenty years of search parties, investigations, lanterns, and it was starting to look like the prince would never be found.

But, Jake and Kriem looked a bit—well, a _lot_—like they would tear his arms off and dump him in a ditch if he refused to help them, so Kotetsu supposed he could take his share of the ransom quietly and then spend the rest of his life making up for it. Nobody wanted to keep the crown itself, after all; the whole plan depended on giving the crown back…

A pair of shadows blocked out the scant amount of sunlight—Jake with his scraggly beard, and Kriem with her silky bob.

"You didn't run," Jake noted. "Smart man."

"So it's my turn now?" Kotetsu stood up and stretched his legs a little, fighting to show no fear.

"Indeed it is," Kriem confirmed. "Our escape route is clear."

"Got it," Kotetsu picked up his rope and expertly lassoed one of the palace roof's stone embellishments. He tugged on the cord experimentally, testing its tension. So far, so good.

"Now, you'll understand if we have some concerns about your loyalty," Kriem mentioned. "Jake and I have worked flawlessly for years, but you… you're a wild card. So we don't quite trust you."

"Why are you telling me this right now?" Kotetsu asked. The longer he stood there with a rope attached to the palace, the greater the chance someone would walk by and notice them about to break in.

"We don't want to give you any chances to be funny," Jake continued. "So if you're not back in five minutes, we're leaving you for dead."

"If you take longer than that, don't bother meeting us. You'll prefer prison," Kriem added with a small smile.

_Dammit, these two are creepy_… But Kotetsu nodded and gave them a thumbs-up. "Got it. Five minutes. So, um, when do you start counting?"

"Fifteen seconds ago," Jake smirked, and without another word Kotetsu jumped onto his rope and climbed with all his strength.

He hid a grimace as he climbed. Starting fifteen seconds ago? That was _not_ how partners treat each other, even partners in crime! Jake and Kriem obviously only cared about the money, but would it kill them to show a little respect for a comrade? Kotetsu was on their side!

One calloused hand expertly reached over the other, and Kotetsu reached the roof in a minute, which left him a scant three minutes, forty-five seconds to get the crown and escape. No biggie. Except it was the biggest biggie of Kotetsu's life. Stealing the crown and getting caught meant life in prison. Stealing the crown and somehow disappointing Jake and Kriem meant bloody, painful death. And his chances of stealing the crown and getting away clean? Low.

Well, Kotetsu never paid attention to the odds of success before. Why start now?

Once he had his feet under him, Kotetsu twisted some special roof-climbing claws onto his hands and set about climbing toward a boarded-up skylight in the roof. Once close enough, he knocked the covering aside and dropped down onto the ceiling rafters. The hall below was filled with guards, but all of them faced away from the jewels, expecting intruders to enter from the doors or windows, not the roof. Kotetsu's target, the prince's crown, sat on a fuchsia pillow in the center, well-protected but unobserved.

Kotetsu tied his rappelling rope around his waist and, looping the rope a bit to slow his descent, gradually lowered himself down to the crown. Ten feet. Five feet. One foot. Looping one finger around the gold edge, Kotetsu slipped it into his bag and started climbing back toward freedom. He couldn't believe it was that easy. He couldn't believe—

"Stop! Thief!"

Oops.

The crown bounced against Kotetsu's leg as he scrambled up the rope faster than he had ever climbed before. Once he reached the roof, he immediately ditched the rope and slid down the sloping shingles, shouting to the Ouroboros Bandits below: "INCOMING!"

At the edge of the roof, Kotetsu jumped off, aiming to land on top of Jake. The pair looked up at their free-falling associate, and Jake instinctively threw up a barrier to defend himself from the impact. Just what Kotetsu needed—the magical barrier had much more flexible properties than the cobblestone street, and as the shield deflected Kotetsu, it gave him a new trajectory, one that let him land on his feet.

"I got the crown!" Kotetsu gestured wildly with his hands. "Now, we gotta go! Right now!"

They ran out along the pre-approved escape route, but almost instantly, a guard caught sight of them and set to pursue.

"Damn, Kaburagi, you screwed up!" Jake accused, flicking barriers behind him to repel the soldiers.

"I got the crown! Within your time limit! That's what you wanted!" Kotetsu yelled over his shoulder as he ran. "Which, I gotta say, five minutes is the most _ridiculous_ time limit ever! In case you were wondering!"

Kriem ran up alongside him and pulled ahead, pointing the way that she had cleared for them. Sternbild had a network of sentries stationed throughout the entire city, but Kriem had pre-prepared a path of guards with enchanted armor under her control. They'd be unable to chase them, trapped motionless inside of body-shaped prisons. As Kotetsu passed men locked inside suits of armor, screaming for help, he added this strategy as another point in the "Reasons Jake and Kriem are Insane" tally, a long and growing list.

The un-enchanted guards from the palace chased the trio up and down Sternbild, forcing the thieves to run way longer and faster than Kotetsu had ever run in his life, but they finally found themselves a secluded hiding place—an observation deck jutting off the side of a cliff that _used_ to have a grand view of the Lyle River. A freak landslide ruined the beautiful sight a few years ago, and now, the deck was mostly neglected. All that was left was a rickety border fence and an old notice board.

"Wait a minute…" Kotetsu peered closer at the notice board, approaching it and staring at the wanted poster that dominated its center, featuring a portrait of Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, a 'homicidal thief' with two kitty-shaped goatees, sagging lips, and glowering eyes. "I can't believe it!" he cried. "I do not pull faces like that!"

Kotetsu ripped the poster off the board, staring at the caricature of his own face. "I don't really look like this, do I? Hey, is this—"

He turned to face the Bandits and instead found himself face-to-face with a knife in Kriem's hand.

"Woah, woah! What's that for?!" Kotetsu strafed around, trying to put distance between himself and the blade, but Kriem tracked his every move.

"This?" she asked innocently. "It's for cutting off loose ends."

"A-Aren't you supposed to tie off loose ends?"

"We prefer to get rid of them," Kriem twirled the knife around her hand, advancing closer.

"See, Kaburagi, we never trusted you," Jake ran a hand through his wild hair. "But you shouldn't have trusted us, either. And I don't even like you enough to keep you around."

"Wait a second! Just wait a second!" Kotetsu continued backing away from the crazy man with the crazy girlfriend with the crazy knife of crazy, stabbing death.

"You're going to give the crown to Lord Jake," Kriem said. "And then I'm going to kill you, and then you're going to die. Sound fair?"

"No! That sounds _terrible!_ And what the hell is Jake the lord of, anyway?"

Kriem adjusted her grip on the knife and jabbed it at Kotetsu's neck. He barely ducked to the side.

"Hey, without me, you couldn't have gotten this crown! Give credit where it's due!" Kotetsu brandished the bag with the crown at them, a bit like a shield, as he continued backing away.

"That's true," Jake admitted. "But we don't need you around in order to share the ransom, so you're officially useless."

"Hey! Don't you dare call me—"

Kotetsu's last words were forever lost, because at that moment, he backed up so far that he literally tumbled over the observation deck's rotten railing. His words turned into a scream as he plummeted to the murky rapids below.

"Our crown!" Kriem shrieked, reaching for the railing, but Jake yanked her away from the edge.

"We'll go loot his body downstream. Come on!"


	2. High in a Tower

Barnaby Brooks Jr lived his life with comfortable precision. Each and every morning, he woke at seven, bright and fresh. In barely a minute, he'd be out of bed and beginning his day with a light breakfast, a quick wash-up, and then a few daily chores. He'd make his bed, clean up the kitchen, sweep the floors in each room, polish, wax, laundry, and mop up the rest. After so many years of practice, rarely did these chores take longer than fifteen minutes, which left Barnaby with sixteen hours of absolute freedom to do anything he wanted.

Inside the tower, of course.

After twenty years of living in seclusion, Barnaby thought he should be used to it. He had a brief and fleeting memory from when he used to live outside, before his mother and father were murdered. Uncle Maverick saved him from that same fate and, for his own protection, gave him this tower to live in, but there was a restlessness he couldn't shake. When the trees below began to turn yellow, brown, and red, he started to feel so _strange_. This time of year, on the exact date of his birthday, from somewhere far on the horizon, a huge cloud of lights drifted up and floated through the sky. He couldn't compare it to anything but itself; nothing he had ever seen or read about compared to its majesty, its brilliance… and its distance.

Barnaby took a lot of pride in his obedience to Uncle Maverick. He found ways to entertain himself without testing his guardian's limits. He read books. He practiced crafts, from knitting to papier mâché. He perfected dart-throwing and paper folding and played chess with himself until he invented a hundred moves and counter-moves. He solved dozens of logic puzzles that Uncle Maverick brought for him, rings and strings and wood all pulled apart and put back together again. He did thousands of push-ups and crunches and stretches and practiced manipulating his seventy-foot length of hair. He could swing around the rafters of his home and snatch up objects from across the room, and Barnaby spent hours brushing and washing the silky mane. At least, it took hours to maintain the useful part—near the crown of his head, two layers of "useless curls" stuck out in little feathery tendrils, a reminder of the ill-fated haircuts he had received as an infant. But the rest of it, Barnaby could use as a whip, or as ropes for climbing, and he could even tie up small objects and hide them in his hair.

"Barnaby, Barnaby! Let down your hair!"

_Speaking of hair…_ Barnaby smiled and crossed to the airy, person-sized window, looping his hair around an iron hook outside and then lowering it down to his uncle. It'd be unfair to expect his guardian to climb himself, so after feeling a signal-tug, Barnaby began to pull, gradually raising the man up to the ultra-high window.

After a minute, the wizard appeared at the window, blocking the outside sunlight with his form. "Good morning, Barnaby," Maverick greeted good-naturedly. Barnaby studied the aged lines on his guardian's face and knew the journey had taken a lot out of him.

"Good morning, sir," Barnaby echoed. "How are you?"

"Rather tired, my boy," Maverick untied his traveling cloak and removed his messenger bag. "For such a short journey, it was fairly taxing."

"I'm glad you made it home safely," Barnaby took the outerwear from Maverick's arms and hung it up near the window.

"I'm glad to be home, too. I missed having you sing for me."

Barnaby understood the hint instantly. "Right away, sir. Just make yourself comfortable."

Maverick smiled, and crossed the tower's cozy sitting room to sit in his favorite chair. With Maverick's back turned, Barnaby paused and glanced out the window, scanning the trees beneath him. _My birthday is so soon. Just a few days. And then the lights will appear..._ The indescribable pain in his chest flared again.

"Actually, Uncle Maverick," Barnaby turned away form the window and sat down in front of his guardian. Maverick dipped his hands through Barnaby's hair and wrapped a few tendrils around his wrists and hands. "I've been thinking lately…"

"Is something the matter, my boy?"

"Nothing's wrong, exactly," Barnaby twirled one finger around a useless curl by his ear. "You've protected me very well, I don't mean to suggest you haven't, and I'm certainly comfortable here in the tower. You bring me so many different things, and—"

"Please, Barnaby," Maverick cut him off, but Barnaby glanced up and saw his guardian smiling fondly. "If it takes you this long to arrange your thoughts, would you mind singing first? Then we can discuss the matter properly."

"Yes, sir," Barnaby closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Maverick taught him this song many years ago, practically ingrained it into his mind.

"**Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine… Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine…**"

A pleasant heat sprung from Barnaby's scalp, and it traveled down his hair into Maverick's waiting hands.

"**Heal what has been hurt, change the fate's design… Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine…**" Barnaby opened his eyes. "**What once was mine.**"

_Mother, Father… I miss you._

"Very good, Barnaby," Maverick praised. His voice was much stronger now, to match the rest of his new, refreshed appearance. The wrinkles on his guardian's face had vanished, his hair thick and brown, and though the distinctive mole and aged eyeglasses remained, he looked only a few years older than Barnaby.

Advanced aging; Maverick said that was one of the costs of being a wizard. Using magic made him age much faster than ordinary people, and without the magic of Barnaby's hair, he might have died years ago, leaving his young, adoptive nephew alone and defenseless. Barnaby happily provided this one service and preserved his guardian's life, and as he left the tower to find food—and when possible, small toys or souvenirs for Barnaby—his young charge wouldn't sleep easily until his guardian was safely back home and healed.

"Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Maverick asked.

Where to start? "It's been a long time, since… my parents…"

Maverick nodded sympathetically. "I know, Barnaby. I miss them, too. They were good friends of mine."

"Yes, of course I miss them," Barnaby's finger returned to twisting one of the useless curls. "But… did they really want me living in this tower, forever?"

"They did. Or at least, they were prepared for such a possibility."

Barnaby had heard this story many times, and it usually reassured him. "Tell me what they asked you to do, please?"

"Well," Maverick leaned forward and gathered more of Barnaby's impressive hair into his lap. He combed through it with his fingers. "When you were very young, your parents realized that your hair had incredible powers. They did everything they could to protect you from the evil, greedy people of the world who wanted to steal that power, but they feared they would not be able to protect you from everything. So they came to me and told me, 'If anything happens to us, and we are unable to protect our little Barnaby, you must care for him and make sure no one ever harms him.' But just as they feared, thugs came and tried to steal you away. Your parents died fighting them—protecting you."

Barnaby nodded. "And that's why I live in this tower," he said, to reassure himself.

"Yes. I'm glad you understand, Barnaby."

_But… it's not enough._

"When you leave the tower, you go to places where there are other people, right?"

"When I have to, yes."

"What are they like?"

"They're exactly as your parents feared. Mean, vulgar, hateful. They kill each other over the slightest disagreement. It's a vicious place, and I hate every minute outside. But, I brave those dangers so I can continue caring for you, as I promised I would."

"Thank you, Uncle Maverick. I'm very grateful to you," Barnaby said eagerly. "But… I think I'd like to start taking care of myself."

Maverick let Barnaby's hair slide out of his hands and back to the floor. "What?"

"You've taken care of me for twenty years, ever since my parents were murdered. And you just said, you hate going into the outside world. I'm a grown man now, and I'd like the chance to take care of you in return, and return your kindness!"

All traces of that kindness on his guardian's face evaporated. "Barnaby, this is insane. Stop this now."

"But I mean it, Uncle Maverick! I'm not little Barnaby anymore! I'm strong—strong enough to pull you up into the tower every day! And if you teach me what to do, to not trust anyone and to protect myself, I'll be fine if I go out into the world!"

"I will teach you nothing, because you are _not_ going outside!"

"I want to see it for myself!" Barnaby's thoughts spilled out in a frenzy. "I have done everything there is to do inside this tower and I can't take it anymore! I want to see the world! _I want to know where those glowing lights come from!_"

The momentum of his outburst faded, and Barnaby panted heavily, until he realized he had just yelled at his beloved Uncle Maverick. "I—I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't—"

His apology trailed off when Maverick chuckled. Then, the amusement intensified, until Maverick laughed loud and long at his charge. Barnaby felt his cheeks, hotter than the fireplace.

"The glowing lights? Those are stars, Barnaby! I taught you about the stars when you were a little boy! And to think you got this upset over a few stars…"

"They're not stars," Barnaby insisted, a little quieter. "It's a cloud of lights, floating lights. They only appear at night, and only on my birthday. I've watched them from this tower for twenty years now, and I want to know where they come from."

Maverick's mirth died out, and he stood up, looming over the seated Barnaby. "You seem to have forgotten my lessons," he began. "The world is never as it appears. _People_ are never as they appear. The very fact that you want to go and see those lights, however beautiful, _proves_ that you are too immature and unprepared for the world outside."

"But Uncle Mave—"

"I've heard enough of this!" Maverick cut Barnaby off. "You understand nothing about the world. In your ignorance, the world will destroy you. I cannot allow that to happen. And so, you _will_ stay in this tower. Have I made myself clear?"

Tears gathered at the edges of Barnaby's eyes, and he looked at the floor to hide them from Maverick. "Yes, sir," he whispered.

An open hand appeared before his eyes. "Come now, Barnaby." Maverick said gently, his anger gone as it if had never existed. "I don't like saying things that upset you. I wish the world was a gentler place that you could live in, but… I wish for many things. And my wishes don't all come true, and neither will yours. It's simply the way life works."

Barnaby took the hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, though he felt more unsettled than reassured. Maverick saw the teary pearls on his charge's face and offered his handkerchief to Barnaby.

"Perhaps you are more in need of rest than I am," Maverick suggested. "Why don't you take a nap? I'll step out of the tower and see if there's any fall fruit nearby. I won't be gone for more than a few hours."

Barnaby felt many things in that moment, but 'tired' was not one of them. Still, Maverick knew best, so he nodded quietly and looped his hair around the iron hook outside the window. Tying himself securely to the hair, Maverick stepped out and allowed Barnaby to lower him smoothly to the ground. His guardian waved up at him, and Barnaby mustered a wave back, though the gesture lacked heart.

_There's something else for me out there. I just know it. Why won't Uncle Maverick let me see it for myself?_


	3. Meeting a Stranger

Dammit, Kotetsu hated drowning. Like, a lot. The pressure on his lungs, the lightness in his head, the pain, everywhere, the burning, not knowing which way was up, tumbling, terrified, dying—

_Help me!_

The water turned colder, almost icy. Just as Kotetsu thought he was going to both drown _and_ freeze, his face broke the surface of the water. Not one to waste a lucky coincidence, Kotetsu gasped, breathing half-air, half-muddy-river-splash. He coughed, went under again, but resurfaced, and this time drew a much cleaner breath. Remembering not to try and swim against the current, Kotetsu gradually angled himself toward the left-side bank, letting the river push him the rest of the way. He clawed his hands into the riverbank and dragged himself out of the water, coughing and shivering but much less likely to die.

Once out of the river, Kotetsu took a moment to catch his breath and draw up a new plan. He just avoided death twice, once by river, once by stabby madman. His karma will definitely run out at this rate. He needed somewhere safe, somewhere to hide until the whole stolen-crown thing calmed down.

Speaking of stolen crown… Kotetsu checked his bag. The gold crown winked at him, a modest, yet beautiful circlet, sparkling with diamonds and rubies. If he skipped the thousand-fold-ransom and just pawned the thing, he'd still have enough to get by for a while, maybe not forever, but he'd stay out of jail. Staying out of jail was a very big priority.

_Why the hell did my life turn into this?_ Kotetsu wondered. He knew when, and how, but the why puzzled him.

Better get a move on. Jake and Kriem probably assumed he still had the crown, and they'll kill him when they find him. And of course, their first clue was the river. He scanned around to erase any signs of his presence, mostly by re-packing the mud he had dislodged from the riverbank, and realized that his horrific wanted poster had somehow followed him, drifting all they way downstream and catching on a twisted tree root. Kotetsu snatched it up—man, Sternbild printed their wanted posters on super-heavy-duty paper—and tucked it in his bag. He still had his climbing claws, which was nice, but he knew he had very little else.

New plan. Find safety. Wait. Pawn the crown. Go home. _Get a move on, Kotetsu._

Come to think of it, Kotetsu had never been to this part of Sternbild's forest-y outskirts before. He had every reason to call these woods his home away from home away from home, and being in a place he had never been before did little to comfort him. Unfamiliar paths and trees, dammit, he'd get lost at this rate. The Lyle River could lead him back to Sternbild, or toward some other population center, but that meant crowds, and crowds meant someone could stab you in the back and you'd never know who killed you. Getting lost in the woods was looking more and more appealing, Besides, if he was lost, that made it a lot harder for everyone else to find him, Sternbild guards and the Ouroboros Bandits alike.

So, Kotetsu stumbled through the trees, gradually drip-drying, his mind filled with terrible visions of regret. What if he never returned home? What if he never saw his mother, Muramasa, or Kaede ever again? What if they found out that the money he sent home came from thieving? Kotetsu had worried that he was getting too big for his britches, his reputation driving further into the ground. It was only a matter of time until something went too wrong to fix or hide. Shame, Kotetsu felt all too frequently. Disgrace, not as often, though he knew someday his lifestyle would demand he pay that price.

That day might be today.

After a few hours of wandering around, Kotetsu was mostly dry, and he _really_ needed to rest. If anyone ambushed him at that moment, he'd put up an incredibly poor fight. Finally, he managed to find a rock formation with a human-sized hidey-hole in the side, overgrown with vines. Pushing them aside, Kotetsu realized that it wasn't a cave he had found at all. It was a tunnel, with a little light at the other side.

Interesting...

He followed the tunnel to the end and found himself in a peaceful little glade, complete with a sparkling waterfall, peaceful creek, and a few red-turning trees. Oh, and a tower. A super tall tower, like someone stuck a cute little cottage on top of a five-story white stone pillar. Maybe not exactly like that, but that's what it looked like to Kotetsu. He wasn't an architect.

But, a tower that tall would make an excellent hiding place until the manhunt fever died down, so Kotetsu scanned around the base for a door.

No door.

Dammit.

Well, if there was no door, that probably meant the tower was deserted, right? As soon as Kotetsu got up there, he'd have a new home all hidden away, where he could wait out the metaphorical storm. Best find _ever_!

It was also the worst climb of Kotetsu's life. Even with his climbing claws to help, the tower walls shot straight up, with no footholds, leaving him to hang by his arms the entire time… There _had_ to be an easier way to get up into that tower.

But, Kotetsu didn't give up until he was all the way at the top, at a wooden window about the size of a door. What, was this home for flying people? Because that was the only way Kotetsu could think of to get into this place without running the risk of a broken neck. After catching his breath on the sill, Kotetsu pushed the window open and stepped inside.

The cottage impression he got from the exterior matched the interior. The tower room had a nice terracotta tile floor, smooth walls, but no light, except for the window. Well, Kotetsu could stand darkness if this place kept him safe and—

_CLANG._

* * *

The man fell to the ground with a loud thump. Barnaby panted, standing over his unconscious body with a frying pan prepared to strike again.

How could this happen? This _never_ happened! This man somehow made it all the way up, into his tower, _without_ climbing his hair! He had to be one of the evil people Maverick had warned him about. Just look at his beard! That evil beard, it looked like fangs! Fangs! A sure sign of cannibalism, this man would eat Barnaby alive as soon as look at him!

Barnaby poked the man with his frying pan a few more times, testing consciousness. The fallen man didn't twitch. Well, Barnaby hit him as hard as he could… and that was hard enough to knock a cannibal unconscious. Barnaby looked between the frying pan and the cannibal. Uncle Maverick had stressed that all the evil people outside his tower were so dangerous, but he'd forgotten to mention that defending against them… was _almost_ easy.

His cheeks twitched in a nervous smile, staring at the thoroughly defeated cannibal on the floor. _Maybe I can leave the tower. Maverick is just trying to protect me, but I can protect myself!_

Then again, Maverick had made his expectations perfectly clear. Barnaby was never to leave the tower, ever, because the world out there would destroy him. He didn't want to be destroyed. He didn't want to disappoint his uncle, either.

But that pain in his heart said he didn't want to spend the rest of his life bound to a tower, either. The urge to leave and make his own way grew stronger and stronger with each passing year, and it wouldn't be long before it overpowered everything else. He _had _to leave. He had to _try_.

Confident that the cannibal was unconscious, Barnaby stuffed him in a wardrobe, his mind spinning with the implications of this scenario. On the one hand, now that the danger had passed, the situation was incredibly funny. Barnaby! Keeping a cannibal in his closet! And all it took was a well-placed hit with a frying pan! But many other questions remained. What was this cannibal doing so close to Barnaby's tower? How did he find it? Did anyone else know where Barnbay was?

Turning away from the cabinet, Barnaby noticed that the man had brought something into the tower with him: a brown leather bag, with a long shoulder strap. Curious, he approached the bag and opened it. Inside, a strange ring glittered, yellow with rocks. He shook it out of the bag and onto the ground, and recognized it as a crown. He'd read about them, metal circles that rulers wore on their heads. This one was gold, with red and white gems dotted around it. Rubies, if he recalled correctly, and diamonds.

Why would a cannibal have a crown? Is he the ruler of the cannibals? That just validated Barnaby's victory even more. If he could defeat the King Cannibal with nothing more than a frying pan, then the rest of the world is his oyster. On a whim, Barnaby even put the crown on his forehead, imagining himself as King of Cannibals. He turned to a mirror on one side of the tower. He didn't even look that strange wearing a crown. It rested very naturally above his top-curls, like it belonged—

"Barnaby, Barnaby!"

Barnaby gasped. Maverick had said he'd be back in a few hours, with the expectation that Barnaby would rest. He had done the opposite of resting! He made an instantaneous decision: hide the crown in a pot, wedge a chair under the wardrobe handles so the cannibal couldn't escape, smooth out his useless curls, and then swing the rest of his hair down and pull Maverick up.

"Barnaby," Maverick greeted in his warmest, most reassuring voice. He placed a hand on Barnaby's shoulder. "I've been thinking, and it was wrong for me to leave when there were bad feelings between us. I just wanted to let you know that."

"It's all right, Uncle Maverick," Barnaby replied automatically. He knew everything Maverick did was for the best. _But still_…

"It was so silly of us to fight over stars, but I think I have something that will cheer you back up."

"They're not stars," Barnaby mumbled. "Actually, Uncle Maverick, there's something else you should know—"

"Here it is!" Maverick produced a head of cabbage from his bag. "I'll make cabbage rolls for dinner tonight!"

…_Cabbage rolls_? Cabbage rolls would make him forget about the lights that appear every year on his birthday, and _only_ on his birthday, and the whole world full of grass and trees and animals and people and things he's only read about but wanted, needed, _yearned_ to see? A special dinner would never compare to all of that. And now that he knew he could protect himself, Barnaby couldn't convince himself to stay in the tower any longer.

"Thank you… very much, sir, but I have one more thing I'd like to say. I've been thinking a lot about what you said earlier—"

"I hope you're not still talking about the stars, my boy," Maverick cut him off.

"Well, they _aren't_ stars, but I've been thinking—"

"You still haven't recovered your senses? You know they're stars, same as I do. And the stars are too far for anyone to reach. I thought we discussed this."

"But these aren't stars! The stars stay fixed in the sky, but these lights move, and only appear—"

"This is _not_ up for discussion!"

"I know I can handle myself out there!"

"And _I_ know you can't! Barnaby, you are _never_ to leave this tower, for any reason!"

Barnaby fell silent. His entire plan to show Maverick the cannibal as proof of his ability fell to pieces. Truthfully, this evidence would probably have the opposite effect. Rather than praising Barnaby for defending himself, Maverick might restrict his freedom further, to prevent the possibility of the _next_ cannibal finding the tower. Even if Barnaby were a hundred times stronger than a normal human, without seventy feet of hair to protect, Maverick would never let him go.

The reality pierced Barnaby through the heart. _I can't let it end like this_.

"I don't mean to raise my voice at you, Barnaby," Maverick's tone turned warm once again. "It just… _concerns _me when you act like this."

"…I'm sorry, sir," Barnaby shifted to place his body between Maverick and the wardrobe. "I don't mean to worry you."

"I know you don't. You're a good boy, Barnaby. You know better than to act like this, too."

"I suppose it's because my birthday is so soon. I'm not thinking clearly." Barnaby stretched the truth a bit. "I hadn't settled on what I want for a present, so this… crazy idea came up."

"Yes, that's true. I've been waiting for you to tell me what you want. I can do anything so long as it's reasonable."

"Maybe… May I practice painting again? The paint set I have is empty, but those colors were beautiful. They were made from seashells, right?"

Maverick frowned a little, but compared to the anger before, the expression was mild. "Yes, that's true, but the shells come from a town three days away. It will take me a week to get that paint."

"But isn't it a better idea than stars?"

Maverick's expression softened again. "All right. Whatever you want."

"I'll pack a basket for you," Barnaby tugged up his hair and headed for the kitchen.

"Right now? But what about cabbage rolls for dinner?"

"The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll return," Barnaby explained, hoping that provided a more plausible excuse than _if you stay the night, the cannibal will wake up_. "And the less I'll miss you. I hate saying goodbye, but it's easier if we do it quickly."

"I'll miss the day of your birthday…"

Barnaby paused, and sighed. "I'm in this tower every day, Uncle Maverick. We can celebrate my birthday whenever we like."

Maverick smiled and shook his head. "You're a wonderfully understanding boy, Barnaby," he said, crossing the kitchen and patting Barnaby on the head. "I'll come home as soon as I can."


	4. Starting a Quest

Dammit, Kotetsu hated waking up after getting knocked out with a frying pan. Like, a lot. The back of his head throbbed as he blinked awake, his vision blurry and difficult to focus. He was in a cottage… Right? No, this is a cottage at the top of a tower. He had climbed the tower, expecting it to be empty, but he found reality to be quite different.

Kotetsu tried to move, but a thick binding held him back. Someone had put him in a chair—and tied him to it. He wriggled his hands and looked down at the rope, which turned out to not be rope at all. It was _hair_. Yes, someone had tied Kotetsu to a wooden armchair using nothing but long, thick strands of golden hair. It snaked around his torso, wrists, ankles, and onto the ground. Kotetsu followed its trail around the room, looping everywhere, until he finally found its source.

The hair belonged to a girl. A tall girl, wearing pants, but Kotetsu didn't mind, pants were her choice. She had bright green eyes and a pair of intelligent-looking glasses, and a suspicious expression. So yeah, this tower was not deserted at all.

"Y'know, lady," Kotetsu began. "I know you probably don't get many visitors, but I promise I'm not anyone suspicious. You could have asked who I was before you decided to hit me."

The girl frowned. "What did you call me?"

"…Lady?"

"I'm not a lady."

"Huh?"

"I'm not a lady," Kotetsu's captor repeated. "I'm a man."

"Wait, so you're a man and you have all this long, silky hair? How are you _surprised_ that I thought you were a girl?"

"What do you want with it?"

"What?"

The blonde's eyes narrowed. "My hair, why do you want it?"

"I don't! Why on earth would I want your hair?"

The… guy… tugged on a section of his hair, and Kotetsu's binds constricted. "Who told you where to find me? Don't lie!"

"No one told me anything!" Kotetsu insisted. "I was lost and looking for a place to stay, somewhere to lay low until this all—" Oh no. Kotetsu remembered the reason he had climbed this tower in the first place, and he whipped his head around, scanning the floor. "Where's my bag? Where is it?"

The boy smirked at him. "I hid it. And you'll never find it."

Hidden? How many hiding places could there be in a tower? "It's in that pot over there, isn't it?" He gestured his head toward a fired clay pot, about the right size to hold Kotetsu's bag.

The boy blinked, glanced at the pot, and then back at Kotetsu.

_CLANG_.

* * *

Dammit, Kotetsu hated waking up after getting knocked out with a frying pan. Like, even more than the last time it had happened. When he finally came to, the boy was standing over him, his smirk even more pronounced. With closer proximity, Kotetsu could see some of the more masculine features in his face—the harder jaw line, the shaved chin. But Kotetsu still thought it was an honest mistake. As boys went, he was _extremely_ pretty. The hair didn't help.

"_Now_ it's hidden where you'll never find it," he bragged.

"Is this a hobby for you?" Kotetsu groaned. "Smacking people on the head with frying pans?"

"I don't have to explain myself to a cannibal."

"Cannibal? What makes you think I'm a cannibal?"

"Your beard looks like fangs."

"I cut by beard like this because it looks cool! Not because I want to eat people! Kotetsu strained against the chair. "Trust me, when you meet actual cannibals, you'll know!"

"Your beard doesn't look cool at all."

"You're one to talk, Blondie! You need a haircut, stat!"

The frying pan jammed under Kotetsu's chin, tilting his head back and exposing his throat.

"So you _do_ want my hair," the blonde growled.

"I want to get _out _of your hair!" Kotetsu jerked his arms back and forth, emphasizing his point. "Literally!"

"I don't believe you."

Kotetsu heaved the largest sigh he could, with the hair restricting his chest. "So now what?"

The boy blinked. "What?"

"What are you going to do with me? Keep me here forever?"

"No, I can't do that…" the boy placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"So, that means you have to let me go, right?" Kotetsu suggested, praying that the boy wouldn't come up with the Jake-and-Kriem solution to kill him outright.

"No, I can't let you go either!" the boy brandished his frying pan. "You'll tell others where I am!"

"You're a random guy with a hundred feet of hair living in a tower in the woods!" Kotetsu exclaimed. He would have flung up his hands, but the restriction meant he had to make do with flinging his wrists in exasperation. "You're weird, but if you want me to forget you, I will! Just give me my bag and let me go!"

The boy didn't respond. He turned his back on Kotetsu, the hair cascading down his back and shrouding him completely. _Damn, that's a lot of hair_. Kotetsu followed it, from the fluffy curls at the top to the tendrils holding him hostage. He had to hand it to the kid, as a guy well-versed in ropes and knots, this was some surprisingly strong hair-tying. The more Kotetsu fought it, the tighter it got.

"Do you… know where the lights come from?"

"Eh?"

"There's a special cloud of light that appears this time every year, on October thirty-first. Do you know where it comes from?"

Cloud of light? "You mean the lantern thing they do for the prince?"

The boy turned, and Kotetsu could see a spark in his eyes. "I knew they weren't stars," he muttered, and Kotetsu rolled his eyes. "So you know where they come from?"

"Sternbild, yeah," Kotetsu answered.

"How far away is Stern-bild from here?"

"A day, ish," Kotetsu guessed, mentally calculating the speed of the Lyle River against how far he had walked. It couldn't be further than two.

"Alright then. I'll make you a deal."

"I hate deals," Kotetsu mumbled. His last 'deal' nearly got him killed.

"You will take me to see the lanterns, _and_ bring me home safely. Then, I will return your bag to you, and let you go. That is my offer."

Kotetsu shook his head. "No can do. I'm not going back to Sternbild, not now. Maybe not ever."

"Why not?"

"I'm not exactly welcome there. There's a lot of people who wouldn't be happy to see me. Find yourself another guide."

"…I can't," the boy admitted quietly.

"What?"

"I've… I've never left this tower before."

"You mean you've lived here your whole life?"

He turned away, his hair shielding him like a curtain. "I have six days to find Sternbild, see the lanterns, and come home. So, you are my only chance." By the time he turned back around, he folded his arms and stared Kotetsu down. "I have made the decision for you. I don't care who does and doesn't like you. Even if you are an unsatisfactory guide, I can only find another if you start the journey and take me to Sternbild."

Kotetsu chewed it over. Yet again, he found himself presented with an offer he couldn't refuse, which had worked out very badly last time. But, he couldn't help but pity the boy a little bit. Living his whole life in this tower? Never meeting another human being? And all he wanted was to see those lanterns, which Kotetsu had to admit, were pretty impressive. Plus, despite Tower Boy's spoiled princess attitude, he seemed much less likely to murder Kotetsu than Jake and Kriem. They were probably in the forest now, searching for him, along with royal guards. Well, maybe Kotetsu could get away with hiding in plain sight. He might attract attention with a long-haired boy, but the curiosity of the blonde's presence might distract people enough if Kotetsu needed to make a quick escape.

He would regret it. He regretted it already. "Fine. I'll do it."

"You will?" The boy's face lit up.

"Yes. Now can you untie me?"

The boy swung his hair about Kotetsu's chair, and when the flurry of blonde locks subsided, Kotetsu found himself free at last. He rubbed his wrists to return blood flow to his fingertips.

"So? Let's go, old man!"

_Old man?_ "I've got a name, you know! My name is Kotetsu Kaburagi!" Kotetsu stood tall as possible and jabbed a thumb into his chest.

The boy looked less than impressed. "Are you done?" he asked.

"W-well… don't you have a name, too?"

"Barnaby."

"Nice to meet—"

But Barnaby had already left, stringing his frying pan through a loop of hair and packing up a few other essentials in a loose rucksack. Kotetsu pouted as the blonde ignored him. _Your social skills leave a lot to be desired, kid_.

Wait, did this mean Barnaby expected Kotetsu to climb down the way he had climbed up? After so much rigorous use, including a horrendous vertical climb, Kotetsu's climbing claws were utterly mangled. _Useless_…

Suddenly, he felt a long rope wrap around his waist again. Looking down, he saw it was more of Barnaby's hair, whipped from across the room. "Oi, oi, oi, what are you doing?!"

"We have to climb down," Barnaby said. His hair hung in two rivers from either side of his head, split over his shoulders. One half swerved toward Kotetsu and wrapped around his waist while Barnaby worked the other half into his own loop.

"So we're rappelling, with hair?" Kotetsu took the hair in his hands and twisted it into a more secure harness. The texture was unlike anything he had ever encountered before, but it at least seemed sturdy. "Well, this should be stable enough…"

"You have experience with ropes?"

"Part of my… job," Kotetsu stretched the truth a little. Hoping to drop the subject, he crossed to the window. There was an iron hook near the top, so he looped the hair through that and stepped onto the windowsill. He looked back at Barnaby, and for the first time, he saw the boy looked worried. Almost afraid.

"You okay?" Kotetsu asked. Barnaby nodded unconvincingly. "Nervous?"

"No."

"Yeah, right. You don't have to lie about it."

"What if it's just like Uncle Maverick said?" Barnaby asked. "What if the world is full of evil people that just want to hurt each other?"

A little puzzled why this 'Uncle Maverick' hated the world so much, Kotetsu just shrugged. "Well, there are some bad types in the world. But there's a bunch of good types, too."

"And the lanterns aren't evil?"

"No!" Kotetsu laughed. "They're just light. An old tradition for Halloween. They're pretty."

Barnaby took a hesitant step toward the window, then a second, and a third. "Are you sure?"

"Come on out and see it for yourself," Kotetsu challenged, then he dropped off the ledge of the window, giving Barnaby space to loop his half of his mane around the hook. Though he focused on his descent and the even feed of hair-rope, Kotetsu paused every jump or two to look up at the tower window. Barnaby had yet to appear.

_Come on, kid. Be brave._

Then, a golden fountain of hair burst out of the window, and with it came Barnaby, sliding down his hair faster than Kotetsu would have dared go. Afraid the boy might hurt himself at the bottom, Kotetsu sped up too, but when his feet touched down, he realized Barnaby had stopped himself inches above the grass. He stared down at it, a strange, alien surface he had never felt before. Kotetsu wanted to urge him onward, but knew this was a step Barnaby had to take on his own.

And slowly, so slowly, Barnaby's bare foot stretched down, and his toes brushed the tips of the grass. The boy squeaked in surprise, but lowered his entire foot down, then the other.

Kotetsu had often heard the expression that the simple things in life were the best, but he had never understood the truth of that saying until he witnessed a young man feeling grass beneath his feet for the first time in his life, with pure joy shining on his face.

* * *

"What's that?"

"It's a tree."

"Then, what's that?"

"That's also a tree," Kotetsu answered, already annoyed. "Also, the thing next to it is a tree, and the thing in front of it is a tree. All these tree-like things around us are _trees_."

Barnaby glared at Kotetsu. "I know what a tree _is_, old man."

"Then why are you asking me all these questions about them?"

"I want to know more. Why do they grow in this formation? What happens if two trees grow in the same spot? Are these the same kind of trees that grew outside my tower? How do you know which ones grow fruits? Can you tell what colors the leaves will turn before autumn?"

Kotetsu grabbed his hair in frustration. "Is this what you spend all your time thinking about up in that tower?"

"Yes, it is. Now, do you know the answers or not?"

"I don't! I don't know anything!"

Barnaby looked away from Kotetsu—with a very slight up-turn to his nose—and huffed.

_What have I gotten myself into_? Kotetsu wondered for the hundredth time. Barnaby's naïve novelty had already worn off. Once he learned the basics of 'dirt' and 'plants' and the sensation of it all, he immediately jumped to asking questions about anything and everything he saw until Kotetsu longed to clonk _him_ in the head with the frying pan.

"Who's Maverick?" Kotetsu changed the subject.

"That's definitely not the answer to my question."

"I'm asking a question now. Who's Uncle Maverick?"

"My guardian."

"So he's the one who locked you in that tower?"

"He didn't lock me in there. There's no lock."

"There's no door, either. What are you even doing, living up there?"

"It's for my protection."

Kotetsu frowned. "If he's rich enough to build a tower in the middle of nowhere, he can probably afford a bodyguard."

"It's not an issue of money. I live in that tower because Uncle Maverick cares for me."

"And your parents don't?"

"My parents are dead."

Dammit, Kotetsu just crossed the line. "Sorry," he mumbled. As a firm believer in letting personal secrets lie untouched, and having already probed too far about this mysterious hair-kid's past, Kotetsu shut up and continued walking, though he discretely glanced at his companion a few times. The boy's expressions were very subtle, but he looked a little bit sad. Then he pointed in another direction and asked, "What's that?"

Kotetsu looked. "It's a rock."

"Why is it that big?"

"I don't know! Figure it out yourself!"

Suddenly, a nearby bush rustled. In a flash, Barnaby had his favorite frying pan in hand, brandishing it at the source of the noise and prepared for battle.

"Who's there?" he demanded. "Another cannibal? Is he here to eat me?!"

A little white bunny leapt out of the bush. It and Barnaby stared at each other without blinking.

"Don't move," Kotetsu warned sarcastically. "It can probably smell fear."

Ignoring the older man's quip, Barnaby lowered the frying pan and knelt down beside the bunny, which turned away and nibbled a nearby blade of grass.

"They really are fluffy," he mumbled, reaching out one hand to touch the creature. Just as suddenly as the bunny had appeared, it twitched and scampered off.

"Wait!" Barnaby called after it. "Don't run!"

"Too late. You scared it off," Kotetsu said.

"Why is it scared of me? I won't hurt it."

"It doesn't know that," Kotetsu said. Suddenly, he smiled, and patted Barnaby's head. "C'mon, lil' Bunny."

"I'm not a bunny, _that_ was a bunny," Barnaby pointed after the woodland creature.

"No, you're definitely a cute little bunny."

"I am _not_! My name is Barnaby!"

"Are you coming or not?"

Though clearly displeased with his new nickname, Barnaby stood and followed Kotetsu through the forest. The thief watched his companion out of the corner of his eye.

_He's definitely a bunny_. Kotetsu thought. _Instinctively afraid of everything, but with the courage to face his fears and the curiosity to learn about what he doesn't understand_. _If he just learned the world doesn't want to hurt him…_

Barnaby pointed at a bird's nest. "What's that?"

"For crying out loud…"

As sundown approached, the pair crossed a small dirt road through the woods. "Roads mean people," Kotetsu said. "And we should find a place to spend the night."

Barnaby nodded, and tugged his hair closer to him. "Lead the way."


	5. In a Tavern

The light had faded considerably by the time Kotetsu and Barnaby ran across a small, unassuming inn nestled between some trees and bearing a sign: "The Snuggly Duckling." The name reassured Barnaby somewhat. Even after years spent exercising in his tower, he had never walked so far in his entire life. A comfortable place to sleep sounded like a great idea.

But when Kotetsu opened the door, all of Barnaby's hopes for a warm, homey environment dropped dead.

The interior of the Snuggly Duckling did not match its exterior. Rough-hewn logs held the ceiling aloft and matched crude wooden tables, chairs, and bar. The space was filled with men as rugged and rough as the building, armed to the teeth with knives, swords, cudgels, and body odor. Each face in the bar instantly turned and stared at the newcomers, wicked glints in their eyes. Barnaby mentally calculated the number of men against the speed and strength of his frying pan, but the result did not come back in his favor.

Kotetsu took a step forward, and Barnaby grabbed his wrist. "What are you doing?!" he hissed.

"We need a room." He tried to take another step, but Barnaby held him back.

"Are you stupid? We'll die if we stay here!" Barnaby insisted. "You said I'd know cannibals when I see them, and _this place is full of cannibals!_"

"Are you two coming in or not?" A squat man with an ax growled. "You're letting in a draft."

"We're coming in," Kotetsu decided. With a twist of his hand, he reversed Barnaby's hold and tugged him into the Snuggly Duckling. Barnaby's head spun as he tried to look in every direction at once, keep close tabs on all these potential assailants, check every flicker of firelight for more attackers. Uncle Maverick's voice spiraled around his head: _You understand nothing about the world… the world will destroy you… You can't handle yourself…_

Something tugged at the back of his head, and Barnaby whipped around to see one of the thugs holding his hair, his fingers combing through the strands as Barnaby walked forward. Panic clenched his heart—no one touched his hair but Uncle Maverick! Barnaby touched other people with it, but no one else touched it! Grabbing fistfuls of his hair and beginning to hyperventilate, Barnaby tried to tug it out of the man's fingers, but that only served to pull his hair through them faster.

"That's a _lot_ of hair…" the man rumbled in awe.

Kotetsu shrugged. "Self-expression. Kids these days."

"So, what are you doing here?" Another thug, this one with a hook for a hand, approached Kotetsu and Barnaby.

"We just need—" Kotetsu began.

"To leave!" Barnaby cut him off. "Sorry to intrude, but we're just passing through, and we're leaving right now."

"But I thought you'd want to sleep in a bed…"

Barnaby fixed Kotetsu with a fierce glare. How could this man be so stupid!? "You assumed I'd rather sleep in an inn full of bloodthirsty cannibals than outside? Don't assume you know _anything_ about me or what I want!"

Kotetsu's brown eyes shimmered with hurt. "But Bunny—"

"And stop calling me that already!" Barnaby turned on his heel, gathering up as much of his hair as he could and striding toward the door.

Before he could leave the establishment, a meaty hand blocked his path. "Wait a minute, lady," yet another thug, a hulking figure with a pustule-infested face, stood between Barnaby and the door.

"I'm not a lady!" Barnaby corrected, but the brute paid no heed. He just ripped a poster off the wall and brandished it at Barnaby.

"I think this is your friend," he growled.

Barnaby stared at the paper—a wanted poster, bearing a man with hazy eyes, a slack jaw, and an extraordinarily distinctive fanged beard. _Kotetsu T. Kaburagi – Reward._

"Yeah, it's him," the pustule-faced man approached Kotetsu slowly, each footfall rattling the floor. "And there's an awful lot I could do with that reward…"

"Like I'd let a punk like you take me in," Kotetsu countered, cracking his neck side to side and taking a low stance.

_He really plans to fight?_ Barnaby gaped at the unlikely match-up—facing an opponent a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier than himself, Kotetsu showed no fear. Did he have a plan? A secret weapon? Magic powers? Anything? How oculd he stare down that behemoth so calmly?

But before either man could throw a single punch, another patron grabbed Kotetsu from behind and put him in a headlock. "That money's mind, you hear me?"

The second ruffian caught a fist in his face, and a third attacker grabbed Kotetsu out of his stunned arms. "What about me? I'm broke!"

Greed shining in their eyes, the whole bar joined in, reaching for any piece of Kotetsu they could grab, shouting their claim to the thief's wanted poster reward. Above it all, Barnaby heard Kotetsu's indignant voice: "Oi! Let go of me! Let _go_! No one's turning me in—over my dead body!"

"Sounds fair!" the first man responded, grabbing a massive club and hefting it into the air.

For Barnaby, time slowed down. They couldn't kill Kotetsu. Barnaby needed him! he had to be strong, he had to fight, he couldn't run, he had to stop them! For Kotetsu!

_I can't let them kill him!_

Looping his hair into a lasso, Barnby whipped it around the end of the cudgel, and just as the man started his swing, he tugged, bringing the thick end down right on top of the thug's own head. It collided with a loud _thunk_, and the man fell, unconscious.

"_Listen_!" Barnaby shouted, lashing a whip of hair against the ground with an audible _crack_. "I will not let you harm that man! He has to take me to Sternbild, so I can see the flying lanterns! That's been my dream for twenty years, and I won't let you take it from me!"

The ruffians glanced suspiciously at each other, as if sizing the blonde up, and Barnaby suddenly doubted if he had done the right thing. He might have just saved Kotetsu's life at the expense of his own. But, he swallowed back the fear and held fast to the locks of his hair in each hand, prepared to strike the next man to move.

Except the next man to move was a tall, muscular one in the back, dark-skinned with blazing eyes and a flame tattooed onto his left arm. The mob gave the man a large berth, parting and letting him through as he walked, heel-toe, heel-toe, toward Barnaby. The blonde's heart drummed in his ears and his stomach churned.

The man stepped over the fallen thug. Then walked directly up to Barnaby and looked him in the eyes. Barnaby could count the hairs in his very thin eyebrows. Did he pluck his eyebrows? Then, the man spoke.

"You cutie~!" he cooed effeminately, clasping his hand together beside his cheek. "It's your dream to see the lantern ceremony?"

Taken aback, and still flooded with fear, Barnaby merely nodded.

"Oh, wonderful, wonderful!" the man took one of Barnaby's hands between his. "Such a pure-hearted dream! It just makes a maiden swoon!"

Barnaby glanced around the establishment. There weren't any women in the bar. Why was this man going on about maidens?"

"If you need a room, you'll find an excellent one here! Oh, and you simply _must_ have something to eat!" The man pulled Barnaby toward one of the tables in the back. Leaning a little closer, he whispered secretly, "I'm Nathan, but you can call me big sister, okay~?"

"Th-Thank you," Barnaby stammered.

"Oi, Nathan!" one of the thugs said. "We can't just let Kaburagi go! Do you know how much he's worth if we hand him over?"

Nathan barely glanced over his shoulder. "_You will do no such thing_," he ordered, his voice dropping at least two octaves and booming through the bar. But, barely a second later, the feminine falsetto returned. "He's with Handsome here, so he's a guest~! Come on, I'll introduce everyone!"

With the situation derailed by Nathan's fabulous attitude—and the new direction enforced by his hidden wells of intimidating power—the men left Kotetsu alone and drifted toward the back, where they dragged together a giant table for a meet-and greet-with the miraculously long-haired man.

* * *

Kotetsu found himself alone.

"What… just happened?" Kotetsu asked no one in particular.

But to his surprise, he got a response: "Nathan couldn't stand being upstaged."

Kotetsu jumped at the source of the voice. A young man, a little younger than Barnaby, with light blonde hair and violet eyes, stood behind the bar. As a skinny guy with a pronounced slouch, and with so many more terrifying people in the bar, Kotetsu hadn't even noticed his presence.

"Have you always been there?" Kotetsu pointed between the man and the bar.

"I just stay in the background," he said. "I'm Ivan. If you're going to stay a while, can I get you a drink?"

"A beer?" Kotetsu asked, and Ivan nodded. With a sigh, he sat down on one of the bar stools and massaged his shoulder. Dammit, Kotetsu hated being a human tug-of-war rope. Like, a lot.

Ivan swiftly returned with a frothy tankard.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Ivan said, but he glanced behind Kotetsu at the girly little party that managed to spring up in the back, despite the lack of actual females in the bar. "So, you're taking that guy to Sternbild?"

"Yeah."

"Why, if you don't mind me asking? You two are a very unlikely pair."

Kotetsu drank and scratched his beard. "Blackmail."

"Rough."

"Yeah," Kotetsu drank again. "But you must have it worse, right? Dealing with this crowd?"

Ivan shrugged. "Not really. If I stay behind the counter and serve quickly, they don't pay attention to me." Ivan busied himself with cleaning a few glasses.

Kotetsu frowned a little bit. Something about the young man's attitude gave him the impression that he didn't quite like that arrangement. He glanced over at Nathan's impromptu meet-and-greet party. "Y'know, there's something odd about Blondie back there," he gestured, and Ivan looked up. "He says he wants to see the lanterns, but he wouldn't stop asking me questions the whole way here."

"What do you mean?"

Kotetsu tapped a finger against his forehead. "If all he cared about was the festival, why would he be so curious about the world?"

Ivan shrugged again. "What makes you think I know?"

"It's okay. I've got a theory of my own." Kotetsu said. "I think he's trying to find his place. Which makes me wonder, Ivan, is your place here?"

Ivan stared at Kotetsu for a minute, then looked down again. "That's an oddly compassionate thing to say about someone blackmailing you to travel with him."

Kotetsu blinked and laughed a little. "I guess it is."

_But, that's how important the thing he's blackmailing me with really is_. Kotetsu had stolen the crown, half because Jake and Kriem had threatened him to, and half because the payoff from that crime spelled his ticket out. On top of that, Kotetsu still held onto the hope that he could somehow ensure the crown made it back to the King and Queen. Helping out Barnaby might make those wishes come true, so he had to care, at least a little.

"And just so you know," Ivan added. "I'm currently in an arrangement with Nathan. It's in my best interest to stay in this place, for as long as he needs me."

"Is he blackmailing you, too?"

"No. He's helping." Ivan said. "Really, it's my fault to begin with—"

Before Ivan could say anything else, the door opened, and Kotetsu turned to look at the new arrival. Another man stood in the doorway, much cleaner and better groomed than the other patrons of the bar. He had a strong, noble face, sunny blonde hair, and a breastplate bearing the eight-pointed Star of Sternbild. _A royal guard!_

"Keith~!" Nathan exclaimed, catching the man's attention. Taking advantage of the guard's distraction, Kotetsu all but dove over the bar to hide.

"What are you doing?" Ivan stared at him in puzzlement.

"If he notices me, I'm a goner!" Kotetsu hissed, covering his head with his hands.

"You'll be fine. It's just Keith."

"'Just Keith?' He's a Sternbild guard!"

Ivan ducked below the counter to join Kotetsu. "Look, Keith is stationed at an outpost nearby. He's great at stopping crime, but terrible at recognizing criminals. He's a regular here."

"And he's never arrested anyone?"

"He spent a week trying to work up the nerve to ask out a girl who used to come here. She was wanted for arson, but he didn't recognize her because she tied her hair back with a red ribbon."

"What happened to her?"

"She got caught, went to jail. Keith thinks she goes to a new bar."

Kotetsu's jaw dropped. He couldn't imagine an ill-fated love much sadder. "What does that story have to do with the situation now?"

"Keith believes in the best in people. If you smile at him a lot, he won't think you're a criminal."

"Ivan?" A cheerful voice called. "Are you there?"

The bartender stood up. "Here, Keith. How are you?"

"Good, very good! The usual, please!"

As Ivan busied himself with the man's drink, Kotetsu worked up the nerve to peek his head over the lip of the bar. Keith was sitting a few seats down from Kotetsu's abandoned tankard, smiling lightly to himself. Kotetsu's nose just peeked above the bar when Keith noticed him.

"Oh, hello there!" he chirped. "Are you Ivan's new assistant?"

"Um… I'm trying out for the part," Kotetsu said. Placing one hand on his chin to cover his beard, Kotetsu stood upright. Keith laughed, oblivious to anything odd.

"You'll have to work hard! Ivan is very good at his job. Did you know he serves the best cider in the whole kingdom?"

"You don't say?"

Keith nodded. "You should try it!" Ivan returned with Keith's drink, a steaming mug of the aforementioned cider. "Thank you, and again, thank you!"

"Don't mention it, and again, don't mention it." Ivan mimicked. The two smiled at some little joke, but then quickly moved on to normal small talk. Kotetsu grabbed his beer and sank back under the bar to drink in peace.

_How's Bunny doing?_


End file.
